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Jonas was born at Nordhausen in present-day Thuringia. His real name was Jodokus (Jobst) Koch, which he changed according to the common custom of German scholars in the sixteenth century, when at the University of Erfurt. He entered that university in 1506, studied law and the humanities, and became Master of Arts in 1510. In 1511 he went to Wittenberg, where he took his bachelor's degree in law. He returned to Erfurt in 1514 or 1515, was ordained priest, and in 1518 was promoted doctor in both faculties and appointed to a well-endowed canonry in the Church of St Severus, to which a professorship of law was attached.

During Luther's stay in the Wartburg, Jonas was one of the most active of the Wittenberg reformers. Giving himself up to preaching and polemics, he aided the Reformation by his gift as a translator, turning Luther's and Melanchthon's works into German or Latin as the case might be, thus becoming a sort of double of both. Jonas also assisted Luther with his translation of the Bible into German. One of the eight hymns in the first Lutheran hymnal is attributed to him, In Jesu Namen wir heben an (In the name of Jesus we begin), which appeared in 1524 with four hymns by Martin Luther and three by Paul Speratus.[1] His hymn "Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält", a paraphrase of Psalm 124, was published in the Erfurt Enchiridion in 1524. It was used by several composers as a base for organ and choral music, including Bach's chorale cantataBWV 178.

Justus Jonas at work

Jonas was busied in conferences (including a prominent role in the Reformation conferences at Marburg (1529) and Augsburg (1530)) and visitations during the next twenty years, and in diplomatic work with the princes. In the autumn of 1531, Jonas published a German translation of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession and in 1541 he began a successful preaching crusade in Halle, becoming superintendent of its churches in 1542 or 1544 and priest in the Market Church. Luther became severely ill and visited his friend during Christmas in 1545. Jonas was present at Luther's deathbed at Eisleben, and preached the funeral sermon; in a procession Luther's corpse was taken to Halle and buried in Wittenberg. In the same year Jonas was banished from the duchy by Maurice, Duke of Saxony.

From that time until his death, Jonas was unable to secure a satisfactory living. He wandered from place to place preaching, and finally went to Eisfeld, Thuringia (1553), where he died. He had been married three times.